In this course, we discuss engineering aspects of soft materials. First, we cover different classes of soft matter systems, e.g. suspensions, gels, emulsion and foams, and introduce scaling principles to design their structural, mechanical and functional properties. Second, we cover essential characterisation techniques to interrogate the structure-property relations in soft materials.

This course provides a basic foundation in materials science for mechanical engineers. Students learns how to select the right material for the application at hand. In addition, the appropriate processing-microstructure-property relationship will lead to the fundamental understanding of concepts that determines the mechanical and functional properties.

Independent study of selected topics in statistical thermodynamics (small projects with presentations)

This course starts with the rigorous vectorial/tensorial formulation of the balance equations for mass, local species mass (including charged species), momentum, and energy, including simple constitutive equations for the fluxes (Fick, Fourier, Newton). Someselected example introduce you to scaling analysis, analytical and hands on numerical solution methods, which aim to bring physical intuition.

Numerical and analytical methods for real-world "Transport Phenomena"; atomistic understanding of transport properties based on kinetic theory and mesoscopic models; fundamentals, applications, and simulations